1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to furniture, and more particularly to chairs or sofas having a base, a seat mounted atop the base, and a back mounted to the base, and wherein the back is removable from the base.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many of the chairs or sofas manufactured today have a seat mounted atop a base and a back mounted to the base. This typical chair configuration results in an efficient geometry for compact packing for shipment in commerce. Specifically, that volume forward of the back and above the seat is in effect wasted, for shipping purposes. It would therefore be desirable to effect a compact shipping configuration for such chairs or sofas in order to maximize the number of products shipped per unit volume, thereby minimizing shipping costs.
One such solution to this problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,525,549 issued to Knabusch et al. In the Knabusch '549 patent, a chair back is equipped with a slide bracket on each side edge. The slide bracket is composed of a web having inwardly presenting channel sections at the sides and top. Apertures in the web receive securing elements by which the brackets are secured to the back. A locking arm is pivoted to each slide bracket which draws the slide brackets into secured fixed relation with upwardly extending links on the chair which receive the slide brackets when moved downwardly thereover. The locking arms secure the brackets and links against separation and retain them in firm fixed relation against any movement when in use. By releasing the locking arms the back may be removed and placed upon the seat to substantially reduce the space occupied by the chair in storage and during shipping.
Another such scheme is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,355 to Knabusch et al. In the Knabusch '355 patent, a lockable back on a sofa bed is disclosed which uses slide brackets on the sofa back which mate with mounting brackets on the sofa arms. The slide brackets on the back are located at each end facing the rear portion of the inner surface of the sofa arm. This inner surface of the sofa arm has attached thereto a mounting bracket. The slide bracket includes a locking lever pivoted thereto containing a cam face which is moved toward a notch in the mounting bracket for locking the back to each of the arms. This scheme likewise provides a means by which the unit can be compactly assembled for shipment or storage, or for ease of moving the sofa through doors and the like.
A major disadvantage of the aforesaid mechanisms is that when the slide bracket is cammed into fixed engagement with the mounting bracket, the slide bracket is often difficult to separate from the mounting bracket when it becomes desirable to do so. This is because the camming action provides a greater amount of downward thrust on the slide bracket than that which can be generated by simply pulling upwardly on the slide bracket.
It would be desirable, then, to devise a mechanism wherein not only would the slide bracket be cammed into engagement with the fixed mounting bracket, but when one wished to disengage the slide bracket from the mounting bracket, the camming action could be reversed such that the slide bracket would be cammed out of engagement with the mounting bracket.
It has been one object of the present invention to provide a mounting mechanism wherein a chair or sofa back could be separated from a chair or sofa base in order to effect a compact configuration of the chair or sofa for shipping.
Another object of the present invention has been to provide means by which a chair or sofa back could be securely fixed to a chair or sofa base.
Yet another object of the present invention has been to provide means by which one may easily disengage a chair or sofa back from a chair or sofa base after the back has been brought into fixed engagement therewith.